The Mt Ebott Case
by Life Exorcist
Summary: Sam and Dean get word of a new case nearby: that of the mysterious "Mt. Ebott" where all that dare climb the mountain are never to be seen again. Of course, being the Winchesters, they climb up the mountain to investigate. After all, what's the worst that could happen? Takes place in the pacifist run. Rated T because Dean swears a lot.
1. Prologue

"So get this." Sam said as he was typing away on his laptop, "In old Irish mythology, humans and monsters used to live side-by-side. But war broke out between them and humans drove the monsters underground. This 'Mt. Ebott' is supposedly the entrance to that underworld."

Dean took a sip of his coffee and ate a bite of his apple pie, "So? What does that have to do with this case?"

"Well, legend has it that whoever climbs that mountain never comes back, and there have been seven disappearances where the person was last seen climbing the mountain. The last one was just yesterday; an odd-looking kid that lived around here, but no one seems to know the name of." Sam turned the laptop around to show him the news article.

After skimming through it, Dean turned it back around, "So we go and climb the mountain, save the kid, and maybe gank some monsters while we're at it?"

Sam shrugged, "Unless you have a better idea."

He thought for a moment and shook his head, "Nope, let's get going." He stood up and left a ten on the table to cover the coffee and pie. Sam packed up his laptop and followed.

 **3 hours later**

The mountain wasn't the tallest thing in the world, so it didn't take that long for Sam and Dean to hike up the mountain. While they were wandering through the trees, though, Dean began to grow impatient.

"We haven't seen a single monster all this time… Sammy, are you sure your research was right on this one?

"Yeah, I did some fact-checking at the library before we left, remember?" He had his EMF scanner out, but it wasn't detecting anything, until… He angled it to the north a little ways, "Dean, over here." Sam approached a large gaping hole in the ground right in front of them.

Dean shone his flashlight down into it, but he couldn't see all the way to the bottom, "Do you think that's where everyone's been disappearing to?"

"Only one way to find out." Sam stayed back for a moment to prepare himself, then he ran and jumped into the hole. After all, they were the Winchesters, they've survived worse.

"Sammy, wait!" And Dean followed behind.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **And here's the prologue! I figured the best way to start off this story would be to explain how Dean and Sam found out about Mt. Ebott in the first place. I won't guarantee steady updates at all; I haven't wrote a fanfiction in years, so I'm mainly just doing this for fun. Also, it is important to note that some parts of the story will use the game's dialogue, but I am not entirely uncreative. The dialogue will be altered at points when Sam and Dean chip something in, and there may be some scenes added altogether to make this story a little more unique. I can't really tell you a lot yet, as it's a work in progress, but I hope you stick with me through this. If you do, I'll see you next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 1

Sam landed on his feet. He jumped right into the worst part of hell; a tiny little hole possibly leading into a monster-infested cavern didn't really scare him anymore. Dean wasn't so lucky. Down, down, down he went, until… _Thump!_ He landed right on his ass. Luckily, he landed on his ass in a bed of flowers, so there was barely even a bruise.

Dean stood up slowly, "Sammy? You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Dean. I was more worried about you." The light shining through the hole aboveground barely illuminated the small space, "Looks like there's only one way to go." He took out a flashlight and shone it down a long tunnel, "That way."

They followed the hall until there was a sharp left turn, which led through an arch into another dark room. A single light shone down from another hole, revealing a small child that could have been anywhere from six years old to ten, with short brown hair, a vacant expression, a blue- and magenta-striped shirt, and shorts with brown boots, who seemed to be talking to someone…

"Is that kid talking to a flower?" Dean asked, leaning closer to Sam.

"Stranger things have happened, right?" Sam raised an arm in front of Dean, blocking his path, and they stayed hidden to listen to the conversation.

"Howdy!" The smiling, yellow-petaled flower exclaimed jovially, "I'm Flowey. Flowey the flower! Hmmm…" He trailed off for a moment, "You're new to the Underground, aren'tcha? Golly, you must be so confused. Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do. Ready? Here we go!"

Suddenly, a small red heart seemed to leave the child's body, but they were will standing.

"See that heart?" The flower asked, "That is your soul, the very culmination of your being! Your soul starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV."

At this point, the child looked very confused, and a little scared. But they seemed to be able to will their souls to move different directions.

"What's LV stand for?" the flower continued, "Why, LOVE, of course! You want some LOVE, don't you?"

"Now the way he asked that is just creepy." Dean whispered to Sam.

Flowey didn't notice them, he was too focused on the child, "Don't worry, I'll share some with you!" He winked, "Down here, LOVE is shared through… Little white… 'friendliness pellets.'" The flower summoned some pellets to float around him.

"Am I the only one that thinks something is off about this?" Dean demanded.

Sam shook his head, "I'm feeling it, too. Be ready."

"Are you ready?" He willed the pellets to move towards Frisk, "Move around! Get as many as you can!"

The child and their soul started chasing down the pellets, and Dean smiled at the playful determination of the kid. But then he saw the smirk on the flower's face…

"Hey kid!" He yelled, "Don't touch those pellets!" But it was too late. The child's soul had already collided with a pellet, and the child fell to the ground, feeling their soul's pain.

"You idiot." The flower sneered, his face now twisted and grotesque, "In this world, it's kill or BE killed. Why would ANYONE pass up an opportunity like this!?" The flower looked up at Sam and Dean, "And for trying to foil me, you two are next!"

"Opportunity?" Sam whispered to himself, "How could killing a kid be an opportunity?" He decided that if they survived this encounter, (And come on, survive hell and be killed by a freaking flower? No thank you.) he would do more research later.

Flowey surrounded the child with the "friendliness pellets" in an unbroken circle, "DIE!" The pellets got closer and closer to the child, until Dean decided to act. He approached the flower and punched him in the… Face, he guessed? Anyway, distracting the flower caused the pellets to disappear, and the child's soul went back into their body, leaving them close to the brink of death.

Sam approached the scene and picked up the child, made sure they were still conscious, then looked at Dean, "Dude… You just punched a flower."

"Shut up." Dean snapped back. He was going to say more, but he heard footsteps coming their way, "Oh no, not more already…" But he didn't at all expect what he was about to see. Approaching them was a white goat monster, with short horns at the top of her head, red eyes, and a purple dress with a symbol on it in darker purple and white. Sam was sure he had seen that same symbol on the archway coming into the room… Yet another thing he would have to research later.

"Why hello there! Usually I only get one visitor at a time here, but I see today I have three. I see your child is injured. Here…" Resting a hand on the child's head, the nice lady used her magic to alleviate their pain. Despite her kind actions, though, Dean and Sam were still on their guard.

"Ah, do not be afraid, my children. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down. You are the first humans to come here in a long time, and I have never had three at one time before. Come! I will guide you through the catacombs. This way." She led them through an archway similar to the one they just came through into a brightly lit room with two staircases leading up.

Sam caught up to her, thinking it polite to introduce himself and his brother, "I'm Sam Winchester, and this is my brother Dean. We don't know what the kid's name is, they aren't ours." At this point, Sam had put the child down, seeing as they had the strength to walk again, and they were happily holding Dean's hand as they trudged along.

"Well, it was kind of you to save them, then. I was afraid I would be too late when I saw that terrible creature." She smiled at all of them, "But you have to worry no longer. I will protect you now." She started up the stairs, but they didn't follow immediately. The child was distracted by what looked like a star flashing in front of the pile of leaves between the staircases.

"Sammy… What is that?" Dean asked him.

"I have no idea." Sam responded. The child grabbed both of theirs hands and drew them closer to the star, and all three of them touched it. Suddenly pure, raw energy coursed through all of them, and the Winchester boys felt something they hadn't in a long time: strength, power, the ability to take on the world and all of its dangers. What in the world (or the Underworld) could this feeling be?

(The shadow of the ruins looms above, filling you with determination.)


	3. Chapter 2

After the burst of determination, the trio followed Toriel up the stairs and through the door, into a tiny room with a set of buttons, two on a path and two on either side of the path, a closed door with the same symbol as Toriel's dress (Sam could tell by now the symbol had some importance), an inscription by the door that couldn't quite be made out from this distance, and a switch on the other side. When they all caught up to Toriel, she began to speak.

"Welcome to your new home, innocent ones."

Dean smirked at that. Innocent? If only she knew… Sam, however, had a different reaction. New home? When did they agree to this? The child was stoic as ever, and at this point was just going with it.

"Allow me to educate you in the operation of the Ruins." Toriel suggested cheerfully, and stepped on the four buttons that were not on the path, and flipped the switch, causing the door to open, "The Ruins are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them."

 _Puzzles?_ Sam thought, _I could get used to this._

When Dean saw the gleeful expression on Sam's face, he rolled his eyes, "Nerd." Which prompted an elbowing from the taller Winchester.

Toriel went into the next room, followed by the child. Sam stayed behind to read the inscription by the door.

"Only the fearless may proceed." He read, "Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road." He looked at the buttons that were pressed down, "Oh, I get it, step on the buttons that aren't in the middle… Clever."

Dean tugged at his arm, "Come on, braniac, they're waiting for us out there." And he dragged a reluctant Sam away into the next room.

Toriel had already started explaining the next room to the child, "To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches. Do not worry, I have labeled the ones that you need to flip."

"I doubt that's really necessary, Toriel…" Sam said, eager to solve this puzzle on his own (with Dean and the kid's help, of course).

"Oh, I insist, the puzzles will only get harder from here." She crossed to a farther section of the room, leaving the three of them with the puzzle.

The child grabbed onto Dean's sleeve and yawned. "Getting tired, kid?" Dean asked, "Here, ride on my shoulders for a bit." He knelt to the ground and let them climb on. They seemed to weigh almost nothing, but that may have been the determination giving him strength.

Sam walked up to the inscription that was much like the last one, "Stay on the path. Well, that sounds easy enough." They all started down the path, until the path crossed into two sections one leading to a bridge, which Toriel was standing in front of, and the other to the first switch. The switch had yellow arrows around it, and there was a message next to it reading "Please press this switch. –Toriel" Sam took the advice and pressed the switch. Toriel started further down the room then.

This time when the path branched, there were two switches, one at the end of the path, and one right next to it. The one at the end of the path had yellow arrows surrounding it, and a message that read "Please press this switch too. –Toriel." Dean leaned over just enough so the kid could reach out and press the switch. This caused the spikes Toriel was standing in front of to sink back into the ground.

"Splendid! I am proud of you, little ones. Let us move to the next room." The three humans then followed her into the next room, which had no puzzle, but had an open door leading outward and what looked like a training dummy.

"As humans living in the Underground, monsters may attack you." Toriel explained, "You will need to be prepared for this situation."

Dean looked at the gun he brought with him, "Oh, I'm prepared, all right." The child looked scared to see it, and jumped off of Dean's back to hide behind Toriel.

This caused Sam to elbow him again, "I don't think she means prepared in that way."

"No, of course not! There is no need to hurt anyone. The process is simple." At this, Dean put his gun away and listened, "When you encounter a monster, you will enter a Fight." Dean still didn't quite realize why his gun wasn't needed, but he let her continue, "While you are in a Fight, strike up a friendly conversation."

"Wait, what?!" Dean asked incredulously, "A friendly conversation during a fight?"

"Of course. It will allow you to stall for time. I will come to resolve the conflict."

"I can handle fights on my own, thank you."

"Dean…" Sam muttered to his brother, "She was able to heal the kid from near death. I'm pretty sure this lady could kick your ass."

Dean grumbled, but in the end conceded, "Go on."

"Why thank you, dear boy. Now if you don't mind, practice talking to the dummy." She gestured towards it.

Dean, Sam, and the child all approached the Dummy, "Man that is one ugly looking dummy." Dean pointed out.

"Wow, you are sucking right now, Dean…" Sam said. The child grabbed Sam's hand and pointed to the Dummy, "What, you want _me_ to talk to it?" They nodded. "Okay, I'll give it a shot." He knelt in front of the Dummy, "So… How's it going?"

The Dummy obviously didn't respond.

"It doesn't seem much for conversation." Dean remarked.

Toriel seemed happy with them, "Ah, very good! You are very good, Sam." They all followed her into the next room, "There is another puzzle in this room… I wonder if you can solve it?"

"Challenge accepted." Sam examined the strange looking path in the room as they all walked farther down. He saw a panel on the wall, and when he started forward to look at it… A weird-looking frog thingy attacked him (Somehow, he knew it was called a Froggit), and his soul came out of his body for the Fight.

Dean and the child were too far away to be included in the fight, and they both watched Sam worriedly, "Sammy, it's okay, I'll come getcha."

"Dean, it's fine, I've got this." He decided to take Toriel's advice, and talk to the Froggit, "You're actually a pretty cool looking little guy, aren't you?"

Froggit didn't understand what he said, but was flattered anyway. Toriel heard the commotion and approached the Fight, giving the Froggit the evil eye until he left.

"Thank you, Toriel." Sam breathed out, "That was a weird experience." And it truly was. Sam had gone soulless before, but to still be able to feel and control his soul while it was outside of his body… That was a different feeling altogether.

"You're welcome, my child. Now everyone, follow me." And she continued.

Sam stopped to read the panel, "The western room is the eastern room's blueprint."

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Dean asked as he caught up.

"Really, man? A kid is riding on your shoulders".

"Oh, right…" He turned to look at the child, "Sorry." He received a shrug in response. They followed Toriel to a spike-covered platform completely surrounded by water.

"This is the puzzle, but…" Toriel trailed off, and offered both of her hands to the brothers, "Here, take my hands for a moment." And she led them all safely across the spikes, and the ones that matched the path of the western room would disappear into the platform as she walked.

"Well I could have figured that out." Sam remarked.

"Even so," Toriel began, "Puzzles seem a little too dangerous for now." She led them into the next room and said, "You have done excellently thus far, my children. However… I have a difficult request to ask of you."

"Well, what is it?" Dean asked impatiently, putting the child down.

"I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourselves. Forgive me for this."

"Wait, why do we need to forgive…" But before Dean could finish his question, Toriel was gone. "Why do I sense a trap?"

"Because we've faced this situation way too many times before." Sam responded. This time, he was the one who took the kid's hand, "Come on, we'll be ready for whatever lies ahead." And they walked through the long, seemingly endless room until they approached a pillar.

"Is… Is that Toriel behind the pillar?" Dean asked as he saw some white fur poking out behind it.

When he said this, Toriel stepped out, "Greetings, my children. Do not worry, I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar the whole time. Thank you for trusting me."

Dean had an incredibly confused look on his face, "So… This wasn't a trap?"

"Oh goodness, no! I only wanted to test your independence. I must attend to some business, and you three must stay alone for a while. Please remain here. It's dangerous to explore by yourself."

The older Winchester laughed, "We're both grown men, I'm sure we can handle watching a kid for a bit."

"Yes, but it still concerns me to leave three humans alone… Oh, I have an idea. I will give you a cell phone." She handed the phone off to the child, "If you have a need for anything, just call." She gave all of them a steady look, "Be good, alright?" And she left them all alone.

The child started to tug on Sam's sleeve, and pointed to the next room, "You want to keep going?" Sam asked, and the child nodded, "But Toriel said to stay here."

"Ah, come on, Sammy, what's life without a little adventure?" He started towards the other room, "Come on, we can protect ourselves, and you seem good at making friends with these guys already."

Sam sighed, "Fine…" And let the child and his brother take him to the next room. Just as they entered the room, their new phone started to ring. The child handed it to Dean, and he answered it and put it on speaker.

"Hello? This is Toriel." Her voice rang out, "You have not left the room, have you?"

Sam glared at his brother, but Dean answered, "Of course not."

"Well, good. There are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try to solve them yourself."

Dean mouthed, _Are you happy now?_ To Sam before answering, "You don't have to worry about that."

"Well… If you say so. Be good, alright?"

Rolling his eyes, Dean responded, "Okay, Mom." And hung up.

"I told you so." Sam said.

"Shut up." Dean snapped back, "Hey, look, there's one of those little frog-looking things… Do we have to fight it?" The child approached it and sat in front of it, "I guess not." Dean shrugged and followed them.

"Excuse me, humans." The Froggit began, "I have some advice for you about battling monsters."

Sam approached the scene as well, "Oh… Well thank you, we really appreciate it."

"If you Act a certain way or Fight until you almost defeat them…They might not want to battle you anymore."

"What do we do, then?" Sam asked, curious.

"If a monster does not want to fight you, please…" the Froggit pleaded, "Use some Mercy, human." And it hopped off.

"Mercy on monsters?" Dean pondered.

"It's worked so far." Sam pointed out. As they were talking, the child ran over to a pile of bright red leaves with another glowing star inside of it, and began to play in those leaves. Sam and Dean smiled and walked over to them, and the three played together. And as they were all tossing leaves at each other and stepping on them so they made that scrunching sound, the Winchester boys both wondered if this might be the most fun they've had in a long, long time.

(Playfully crinkling through the leaves fills you with determination.)


	4. Chapter 3

After playing in the leaves for a bit, the trio decided to delve deeper into the ruins. They could go into one of two rooms, either the one to the north or the one to the southeast. Dean opted for the north room, but Sam pointed out that the other room was on the path.

"Well, yeah, but the other room gives us a chance to explore." Dean countered, "Come on, Sammy, where's your sense of adventure?" At that, Sam sighed and followed them into the northern room. Inside the room was only a pedestal surrounded by leaves, and on that pedestal was… A bowl of candy?

Sam approached the bowl and read the note next to it, "Take one. What is this, Halloween?"

"Hey, I won't argue with free candy." Dean took a piece for himself and offered one to the child, who gleefully accepted it.

"You know it said 'take one' right?" Sam chuckled, "You took two. How disgusting."

"Sammy, if you could gladly shut up now…" Dean took the kid's hand and they started down the other room.

The child let go of Dean's hand and ran ahead, "Hey kid, what are you-?" But it was too late. They had fallen into a pitfall in the ground.

"Oh no…" Sam and Dean approached the hole and looked down.

"It's too dark to see them…" Dean observed, visibly worried.

"Yeah, I know." Sam agreed. "Alright, on three, we jump in there after them. Okay?" At Dean's nod, he counted down, "One… Two… Three." And they both jumped down the hole, landing on the same pile of leaves the child fell into.

"Hey, you okay, kid?" Dean saw the rustling in the leaves as the child approached, and smiled, relieved, "Awesome."

"Dean, look at this." Sam went over to a door on the eastern side of the leaf pile, "Do you think it'll lead us back up?"

"I dunno. Let's try it." And all three of them stepped inside the door, which took them up to the other side of the pitfalls.

"Good call, Sammy." And they continued onward. As they went into the next room, however, their cell phone rang again.

"Hello?" Dean answered.

"Hello? This is Toriel."

"Hey Tori, what's up?"

"Oh, well, I just wanted to ask, for no reason in particular… Which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?"

Dean thought for a moment, and answered, "Out of the two… I think butterscotch."

"Oh… I see. Well, thank you. Goodbye for now." And _click!_ She hung up.

Sam looked at Dean, "What was that about?"

"She asked if I preferred cinnamon or butterscotch."

"Huh… Hey, what's that?" Sam saw a sign in the room they were in and approached it to read it. As he did so, the phone rang again.

Dean answered the phone again, "Hello?"

"Hello? This is Toriel?"

"Yeah, I gathered, what did you need?"

"I was wondering… You do not _dislike_ cinnamon, do you? I know what your preference is, but… Would you turn up your nose if you found it on your plate?"

"Turn up my… No, of course not."

"Right, right, I understand. Thank you for being patient, by the way."

"Patient… right. You're welcome."

"Well, I'll only be a little longer." Another _click_! And the line went dead.

"So I know what the sign says now." Sam said as he approached, "Three out of four grey rocks recommend you push them."

"Well what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Dean demanded.

"Who knows. We'll probably find out soon enough." Sam walked up to the grey rock with a path leading to a button, "Let's start with this one. Hey kid, wanna help me out, here?" The child eagerly ran up to assist Sam and they pushed the grey rock onto the button, causing the spikes blocking their way to vanish.

"Nice job, kid." Dean offered the child a fistbump, which they gladly accepted. As they were about to pass the spikes, though, Dean's soul left his body, causing him to enter a Fight. He looked to see what had caused him to enter it, and it was a small creature, with little wings, arms, legs, and antennae… It appeared to be crying.

Dean attempted to console it, "Hey little guy, are you…?" But halfway through his first word, the Whimsun (Which was apparently the creature's name) burst into tears and ran away, finishing the fight.

"Well alrighty, then…" The elder Winchester then followed his sibling and the kid into the next room.

"Hey Dean… We have a problem."

"What is it?"

"The kid and I… We're not sure the ground is entirely stable."

"Well of course it is." Dean started walking on it, "See? It's completely-" But before he could finish that sentence, he fell through the ground.

"Dean!" Sam shouted from above.

"I'm okay, Sammy!" Dean shouted back, "Looks like another puzzle. I see one of those doors, I'll be up in a second!" He wandered down for a bit, noticing that the leaves were only covering part of the area. He walked the path until he came upon a sign.

"Please don't step on the leaves." He read, "Okay. I won't." He looked at the path again, "Oh… I get it now." He went through the door and put the kid on his shoulders, "I know how to get past this now. Follow me exactly." And using the path he saw downstairs, he crossed the room. Farther in, he saw another pile of leaves with a sign by it, and he stood on the leaves so he could read it.

"Didn't you read the sign downstairs?" Dean and the kid both looked down at his feet, "Whoops. Sorry."

In the next room, there were three more grey rocks, "So which one doesn't want to be pushed?" Dean asked.

"Let's push them and see." Sam and Dean took care of the first two rocks, but as the child was pushing the third rock, it… Spoke?

"Whoa there, pardner! Who said you could push me around?"

"Great, talking rocks now?" Dean grumbled.

"Sorry about him," Sam apologized to the rock, "But we kind of need to get through."

"Hmm? So you're _askin_ ' me to move over? Okay, just for you, pumpkin."

Dean suppressed a laugh at Sam being called "pumpkin" as the rock moved… But not as far as they needed.

The child tried to push the rock again, and it spoke again, "Hmm? You want me to move some more? Alrighty, how's this?" And the rock moved up a little.

"Well, actually…" Sam pointed out, "We need you to move that way."

"Hmm? That was the wrong direction? Okay, think I got it." And it moved the rest of the way to the button, "Was that helpful?"

"Yes, thank you." Sam said, and they crossed were all about to cross the bridge… And then the rock moved back.

"Um, excuse me," Sam tried to get the rock's attention. "The spikes are back up."

"Hmm?" The rock hummed, "You wanted me to _stay_ there? You're giving me a real workout." And the rock moved back to the right place, allowing the team to cross and go into the next room.

"Looks like there's no puzzle in this room." Sam observed.

"Yeah, only a mousehole and a table with cheese on it." Dean tried to pick it up, "It's stuck to the table."

"Gross. It must've been here a while." At that, Frisk jumped off of Dean's back and sat next to another one of the glowing stars by the cheese table.

The brothers settled down next to them, absorbing the feeling, "You're right, kid…" Sam said, at ease, "This is a pretty good spot to rest for a bit."

(Knowing the mouse might one day leave its hole and get the cheese… It fills you with determination.)


End file.
